INDY 500 - NO TRUMP

I’ve been going to the Indy 500 since I was two years old — a toddler with sunscreen-slathered cheeks and a checkered flag in hand, watching in wide-eyed wonder as the thunder of engines shook the ground and the smell of rubber and gasoline filled the air. For decades, the Indy 500 has been a sacred American tradition: a day when hundreds of thousands of people pack into the stands, unified not by politics, but by a love of speed, spectacle, and that unbeatable moment when the cars roar past the bricks. We cheer, we wave, people drink beer — and we forget, for just one day, the chaos of the world outside the Speedway.

So you can imagine my horror at hearing that Donald J. Trump might grace the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this year, thanks to his billionaire buddy Roger Penske, and — get this — do a lap around the track. Because what every Indy 500 fan has been waiting for, apparently, is the former President, current chaos agent, and full-time grievance machine parading around like he’s the Grand Marshal of National Unity.

Here’s the thing: I don’t want Trump ruining race day. Not because I’m “triggered” or “can’t handle it” — no, no. It’s because I treasure the Indy 500 as one of the few places left where people can come together and yell themselves hoarse over horsepower instead of politics. The Indy 500 is not a MAGA rally, it’s not a CNN town hall, and it sure as hell shouldn’t become a rolling campaign ad. But here comes Trump, eager to wedge himself into this tradition like a campaign sticker slapped on the Borg-Warner Trophy.

Let’s also talk about what his presence will do to the crowd. Imagine 350,000 people packed shoulder to shoulder, and suddenly we’re not just watching the drivers — we’re watching each other. Who’s standing? Who’s sitting? Who’s wearing the red hat? Who’s rolling their eyes? And all at once, race day morphs from joyful chaos into a political minefield. The last thing I need is to spend the Greatest Spectacle in Racing wondering if the guy next to me is going to pick a fistfight over a thumb’s up or a boo.

And let’s get really personal here: thousands of us have watched our hard-earned retirement funds get mauled in the market under Trump 2.0 — trade wars, tariffs, global instability, fiscal disasters, and a Wall Street more jumpy than a jackrabbit on Red Bull. Every time he tweets, the Dow twitches. My 401(k) chart looks like an EKG during a heart attack, and now I’m supposed to applaud as the architect of this mess parades around the track like some triumphant hero? Hard pass.

So no, I don’t want Trump at the Indy 500. I want the roar of engines, not the roar of a crowd divided. I want to raise a toast to the drivers, not brace myself for political theater. And most of all, I want race day to be what it has always been — a day that brings us together, not one that tears us apart. Keep Trump in the pits — or better yet, off the track entirely.